A few days ago, I laid bare some of the issues with the Bring A Trailer commenting system (you can read that diatribe here), with the crux of the issue being that rogue commenters can derail an auction, even when they have no intention of bidding.
After posting this article to Substack and Instagram, a follower on IG reached out to tell me that I should dig a little deeper into the BaT user at the heart of the issues with the Lotus Elise auction, BiffNotZeem, as he was the user that flagged a non-existent title issue as reason for proceeding with caution. While not scientific in theory, it stands to reason that he spooked at least a few bidders, and the Lotus sold for a paltry $29,000.
The IG user encouraged me to look at a car BiffNotZeem sold to none other than Magnus Walker, the well-known Porsche collector. The BaT auction was for a Lotus Esprit, and you can view the auction here. Like most BaT listings, the post-sale comments get far less attention than when the auction is live, and most users probably didn't check back to see how unhappy Magnus was with the car when it showed up. It had all sorts of issues, from the clutch fluid leaking out of the car to the carbs being plugged up, not to mention the driver's door not opening. BiffNotZeem would reference this in another auction for an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, one of a myriad of listings where he logs a handful of bids with no shot of ever buying the car, essentially advising sellers not to park their cars while a listing is in progress, because in his case, he "....would have caught the issue and corrected it before the sale."
OK, first of all: parking your car that is currently being auctioned is the one piece of advice I give anyone considering driving the car while it's being bid on. It's terrible advice to recommend using a car while it's effectively being sold. Additionally, there is no way he didn't know about the variety of issues present with the Lotus that Magnus purchased, and you can hear more about his experience with the car post-purchase on a 2018 episode of The Smoking Tire Podcast with Matt Farah.
So, the irony here is pretty thick that the guy who regularly never bids high enough to buy a car on BaT and who firebombed another seller's listing is accused of the exact same sort of bad behavior that led to one of the more prolific car collectors of our day having a fairly negative experience on BaT. Combine this with other automotive personalities like Tyler Hoover also getting screwed over on a BaT purchase by virtue of a seller who never once had to answer for his actions with the BaT leadership team and you really have to wonder why they continue to enjoy the reputation that they do.
In the end, it's slightly bananas to me that a so-called Lotus expert from Washington State can both disparage sellers while also selling a car with notable issues and consistently place numerous no-impact bids with no repercussions. He whines about being threatened with lawsuits, and how he will no longer share his insights on BaT because of it. Look at one of his last comments: "Even though I have deep experience with particular cars, I don’t comment on vehicles here anymore. Threat of litigation after I said only positive things but had some paperwork questions that wouldn’t deter me from bidding let me know that things have changed since I sold my most recent Esprit here."
If they can fool Magnus Walker with a dog of a car, they can certainly fool you - all while so-called experts continue to rule the day via an unchecked comments section. That's why you should consider selling your car yourself on The Common Gear.